2013 Ford Flex: Drive review

March 15, 2012

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What is it?

The Ford Flex, is, of course, the Taurus's wagony analogue, the glitzy, boxy companion to the D-segment sedan that the unlamented Freestyle never was to the Taurus's daddy, the Five Hundred. What this particular Flex is is the freshened-for-2013 version.

While the basics remain the same, Ford's updated the styling of its boxy seven-seater, offering a front-end treatment more avant garde than that of the previous car--or even that of the 2005 Fairlane concept which spawned the Flex. The blue oval grille badge is gone, replaced by extra-width “FLEX” lettering spanning the hood's leading edge.

Inside, Ford upgraded the materials and redesigned the dash, offering touch-sensitive buttons à la the Chevrolet Volt's center stack--though the look is decidedly 1970s Aston Martin Lagonda--minimal rather than the Volt's Starfleet hodgepodge. Furthermore, the new Flex ships with the updated version of the often-cursed MyFord Touch. Some 300,000 people are now using the infotainment system, and we presume that some of them are happy with it.

Under the skin, Ford upped the power of the available engines. The 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 now makes 288 hp and 254 lb-ft of torque, and the EcoBoost twin-turbo six pumps out 365 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque. Mileage improves as well, up a tick to 18/25 mpg for the FWD naturally aspirated base model and 16/23 mpg for the AWD EcoBoost version. A six-speed slushbox is still the only available transmission.

What is it like to drive?

We sampled an AWD Flex Limited EcoBoost. If you've driven the previous model, the new wagonoid will feel like a subtle yet substantial improvement. Ford added sound-deadening insulation, recalibrated the steering and imparted the handling with an aura of solidity that pairs well with the upgraded interior. Ford also beefed up the brakes, which now offer fine modulation and confidence-inspiring stopping power.

The turbocharged six never overwhelms the chassis, nor does it feel underpowered. Call the thrust level “adequate” in the Rolls-Royce manner. Not that the Flex is Rolls refined. There's a hint of coarseness to everything Ford builds on the D3/D4 platform (the MKS, the MKT, the Taurus, the Explorer, the Flex) that the company has yet to entirely iron out. It's not bad, it just feels as if it should somehow be better.

Do I want it?

While it's an improvement over the previous vehicle both inside and out, the switchgear still has a hint of chintz to the feel that shouldn't be an issue in a vehicle in this price range--though to be fair, it's a problem not merely specific to Ford, given Chrysler's lesser-quality automatic shifters and General Motors' generally unsatisfying button clusters. We're calling for a Detroit-wide improvement of pieces to be pushed, pulled and twisted during the course of vehicle operation. We expect it to be complete at the conclusion of your next model cycles.

The other consideration is as to whether you choose to have MyFord Touch in your life. While the new system is markedly improved over the previous generation, it still feels as if Ford is asking it to do too much, a mistake BMW famously made with the early iterations of iDrive.

The aforementioned Lagonda-esque touch-sensitive buttons for the HVAC and stereo controls look nice, but in practice, they're not an improvement over regular, good-old buttons and knobs. The longer one spends hunting for the defrost control, the more time the windshield has to fog up in the interim. The more aggravating hunting for a radio station is, the more aggravated the motorist will be.

One piece of good news about the MyFord Touch is that the formerly road-rage-inducing voice-activated navigation system now works as it always should have. It's intuitive, speedy, and in our brief experimentation, accurate.

The Flex faithful will find much to like in the 2013 model, while fence-sitters might find themselves finally converted to the cause. That would certainly make the people in Dearborn, Mich., happy: they cite that 73 percent of Flex buyers go on to purchase another Ford product.